Trevino, Farrell optioned to drop roster to 28

Texas Rangers transactions: Jose Trevino and Luke Farrell were sent to the Alternate Training Site yesterday, the team announced today. Trevino and Farrell both have options remaining, which means that they could be removed from the active roster without having to go through waivers. With those two off the roster, the active roster is now at the 28 man limit, which went into effect today, and which is expected to be in place the rest of the season.

Rougned Odor has been out with an oblique injury, and it was thought that he might land on the injured list to open up a spot, but instead, Trevino is going down and the Rangers are back to carrying two catchers. I’d rather see Trevino, but dropping Mathis would mean 1) waiving him, and 2) hoping he accepts an assignment to the Alternate Training Site, and I suspect the desire to maximize the depth and available options was a factor here.

In addition, Mike Minor is a free agent at the end of the season, and the Rangers likely will be looking to move him by the August 31 trade deadline if they don’t start playing better. Minor, as we have discussed, pitched almost exclusively to Jeff Mathis last season. In his last start, he pitched to Robinson Chirinos, and had a disappointing outing, allowing 9 hits in 5.2 IP, with 3 Ks, 2 walks and a home run allowed, giving up 6 runs in all in a loss to San Francisco.

Given how meticulous the Rangers were about pairing Minor with Mathis last year (until Mathis was sidelined at the end of the season with an injury), it wouldn’t shock me if there was a feeling that Minor is more comfortable pitching to Mathis. If you think Minor is going to pitch better with Mathis behind the plate, it would be a reason to keep Mathis around for another couple of weeks while the Rangers see if they are going to play better and get into the playoff hunt, or else see what the market provides for Minor.

Trevino, I would assume, will be part of the five person taxi squad, which means he will be able to continue to travel with the team.

As for Farrell, he made the team as a versatile multi-inning relief arm, but he’s been bad, having given up runs in each of his three appearances, and with someone needing to be dropped, he’s the obvious candidate.